The two were led to a room with a row of simulation pods. Jaime hadn’t realized that Child Accommodations had those, typically they were used for training scenarios. At the Nanny Bot's instruction both she and Chloe climbed into one.
The start up sequence ran and Jaime felt as a series of safety straps deployed while the pod sealed shut. Once the seal was in place Jaime found herself in the standard sensory isolation. No outside light nor sound came through and a slight sedative was deployed across the harness. In moments she found herself completely numb.
Some found this part of the process unsettling, but after enough combat simulations this was the more enjoyable part for her. The point of dulling all sensation was so the simulation could more easily convince you it was reality. So, simulated bullet wounds might not require any healing, but they still hurt like hell. She imagined running engineering sims was far less distressing.
Only the slight sound of a headset being slid over her head indicated that the sim would be starting soon. Despite the insistence of some of her training buddies, you couldn't actually feel as the device connected itself directly to the neurons with a slight electrical current.
There was never really a moment of transition. One moment she was laying in the pod and now she was sitting at a table surrounded by what appeared to be other young children. A quick glance around revealed a, presumably kindergarten, classroom complete with a kindly older woman enthusiastically greeting 'the class'.
It made enough sense, Jaime supposed. It was rare to have multiple children on an exploratory ship at one time, almost unheard of to have multiple children of the same general age excluding twins and such. If you didn't meet anyone but the Nanny Bot your entire life you'd probably be a raving lunatic by the time you reached adulthood.
There was an eerie element of this simulation though. Even she'd been around enough kids to tell that the sim kids were just a bit too excited and attentive. None were fidgeting in their seats, chatting, or even staring out the window. Imagining only have these 'peers' to model yourself off of certainly explained a lot about Robo Kids like O'Neal. As the teacher began 'taking attendence', Jaime sighed maybe the sim bullet wounds would be better than sitting through this. At least she could use this time to try to put together a plan to get Chloe and Teddy to agree to.
"SUBJECT SCHULTZ'S POSITION WITHIN ARTIFICIAL REALITY DEVICE PROVIDES UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO IMPLEMENT MALADY TREATMENT DESIGNATED NEURAL RECONFIGURATION. TREATMENT REQUIRES DIRECT ACCESS TO TERRAN ELECTRICAL COGNITION NETWORK IN ORDER TO MANNUALLY ALTER THOUGHT PATTERNS TO REMOVE MALADY SYMPTONS."
"MEDICAL DATABASE INDICATES THAT FOR OPTIMAL ACCURACY SUBJECT MUST BE ACTIVELY ENGAGING IN INNAPPOPRIATE THOUGHTS OR BEHAVIORS WHILE ALTERATIONS ARE UNDERWAY. ALTERATIONS MADE WITHOUT SUCH GUIDING DATA RISK ALTERING UNRELATED THOUGHT PATTERNS OR CREATING NEURAL PATTERN INCONGRUITIES. ALTERING ARTIFICIAL REALITY PROGRAM COULD BETTER STIMULATE TARGET BEHAVIORS BUT RISKS SUBJECT BECOMING AWARE OF THIS UNIT'S ACTIONS. IMPACT OF SUCH AWARENESS ON TREATMENT EFFICACY UNCLEAR. CALCULATING PROPER COURSE OF ACTION."